trouble shedding

[Miket20]

has anyone ever had a ball python appear to be in blue but show the symptons for about 2 weeks with no sign of shedding, he skins seems a bit crusty round his mouth and he hasn't moved out of his hide for two weeks humidity always been between 50-60, he's only shed once before in the time i've had him and that was perfect if anything conditions r better now than then. he's not been eating regulary either. i've been spraying him daily for the past week still no luck and upped the humidity a little. just trying to work out if its some kind of illness. i'm getting quite concerned about him he's never been right from day one. i think its time for a trip to the vets

[bleeding_sarcasm]

i had humidity problems with my snake for a while, and found out, if you have a screen top, you can cover it with like plastic or glass, and you wont loose as much humidity, also you can switch the substrate to something like orchid bark and add in some whole moss. you might try soaking him in some warm water and then pealing the shed yourself.

[Miket20]

no its not humidity problems i can control that quite easily he's in a wooden viv so even if i don't spray for a day or two it rarely falls below 50 % i've had a bci and kingsnake for years and never had shedding problems with those two thats why i concerned i don't think its a husbandry issue,

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[JuliusSqueezer]

His problem could be that he stays in his hide all the time. If your cage conditions are too perfect 24/7 then has no incentive to move around. Night time drops in temp cause them to need to thermoregulate and move to a basking spot now and then. This also gives them excercise which also aids in shedding. Right now though, your quick fix would be a really long soak in tepid (neither warm nor cool) water for 24 hours or longer. Make sure the water is shallow enough so he doesn't have to swim and deep enough to cover most of him and give him something like a wadded paper towel or what I use is paper towel tubes wadded up or any cardboard to hang onto and rub against. Another problem that is possible is stress. Stress causes bad/retained sheds. Mites or anything that irritate the skin in any way could cause a premature shed cycle that are seldom good clean sheds.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[ball python chick]

i would definately soak him to loosen the shed. every day they retain a shed its 10 times harder to get it off,plus if you know he went blue 2 weeks ago and hes cleared up and theres still no shed coming off he is miserable he doesnt feel like like coming out. is he weak,is there any bubbling,or any chunks of white around the mouth, is he in a new enviorment that is maybe to big and is causing him stress. you mentioned he isnt eating well are you still handling him??????

[Miket20]

he shed today!! tried the soaking technique thats done the job he shed about 30 mins ago, i've ahd him about 3 months , he has strange eating habits since i've had him first he wouldn't eat pinkie rats so i tried 2 small mice ate them both, following week just one then nothing for about a month then he ate a rat pinkie about 2 weeks ago. i've tried every technique in the book and no i have not handled him for the past 2 weeks but have done the last couple of days due to the retained shed. just was a bit strange as humidity is fine and temps maybe stress caused the retained shed ?, he's in 2x2 viv with tight hide spots on the cool at the warm sides of the viv. i've had a kingsnake and a bci for about 3 years never had a problem shed with either of those two. ill see how he goes not thats one problem sorted, just got to get him eating regulary now. and theres not any symptons of a ri or anything. he's in pretty good health really just needs fattening up. i'll post the most recent pics see what u think?

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[ball python chick]

congrats on the shed he is so cute. he looks healthy too. his weight doesnt look bad. he just needs alittle chunk to him. i have lots of balls and they are my favorite. your set up looks nice. hopefully he is not a picky eater, i have a few of those.